Sixteenth-century Tudor England.

A time of intrigue and chaos, with a country ruled by a cruel and determined monarch. In Henry VIII’s court a rise to favour can easily be followed by a fatal fall from grace.

Four Seymour children of Wolff Hall stand upon Merlin’s Mound, said to be able to grant wishes, and make ambitious claims for their futures.

Edward, the eldest, wishes to own all the land he surveys.

Thomas, rakish and carefree, wishes to marry the highest woman in the land.

Elizabeth, their half-gypsy cousin, cunningly wishes for the wisdom of Merlin.

And lastly Jane, their plain but romantic sister, wishes that she will one day marry a king.

The four Seymour lives will be inextricably bound with the reign of the ruthless King Henry VIII and his sometimes equally perilous passions and hatreds.

Each of them will find their childish wish granted – but at what price?

All will be at the mercy of the King’s bloody reign and victims of their own ambitions as they strive to further the Seymour cause and believe that happiness can be found in power…

‘Pour the Dark Wine’ is a thrilling and superbly written historical novel charting the perilous climb of the Seymours in Henry VIII’s court.

‘A cracking good plot’ – The Times

Deryn Lake started to write stories at the age of five then graduated to novels but destroyed all her early work because, she says, it was hopeless. A chance meeting with one of the Getty family took her to Sutton Place and her first serious novel was born. Deryn was married to a journalist and writer, the late L. F. Lampitt, has two grown-up children and lives in Mayfield, Sussex, with two large cats. She is also the author of ‘Sutton Place’, ‘To Sleep No More’, ‘The King’s Women’ and ‘As Shadows Haunting’.

Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books.